Sled



April 1o, 1951 F, J, DEDRlCK 2,547,930

SLED

'Filed NV. 22, 1947 Qttmmep Patented Apr. 10, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE SLED Francis J. Hedrick, Coming, N. Y.- Application November 22,1947, Serial No, V'787,574 8 Claims. (Cl. 280-12) The present inventionrelates to sleds and has for its object a simple form of sled having asingle main runner and two auxiliary retractable side runners.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of the sled and Fig.2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a front end elevation. Fig. 4is en enlarged sectional elevation taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and Fig.5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, a tubular member I I forms the topbordering portion of the sled. Member II has transverse members I 2, I3, and I4, secured thereto, which are suitably attached bed members I5,I6 and I1 respectively. Rigidly attached to the under sides of membersI2, I3, and I4 are depending members 2I, 22, and 23 respectively, which,at their lower ends, are rigidly secured to a main runner 25 which iscurved up at the front end into engagement with the tubular member I Iand suitably fixed thereto, as by welding or the like. To brace therunner against lateral thrust members such as 26 and 21 are bridgedbetween members 2I-23 and the associated members I2-I4.

Associated with the lateral runs of member II are sleeves 3| and 4I) towhich are rigidly attached side runners 33 and 34, respectively. Sincethe side runner assemblies are alike a detailed description of one willsuflice.

The section of member II occupied by an end 35 of transverse member I2has arranged therein a corrugated leaf spring member 3B resilientlyholding a ball 31 in an aperture in member II. The sleeve surrounds thissection of member II and holds the ball depressed flush with the outerwall surface of member II except at such times that the sleeve is turnedto either of two extreme positions. In one of these positions a groove4I in the inner surface of sleeve 40 permits the ball 3'I to move outand lock the sleeve against free turning. A second groove 42 is occupiedby the ball 3'! in the other eXtreme position of the sleeve for asimilar purpose.

The sleeve 40 is permitted to occupy the same area of portion IIoccupied by member I2 because of the provision of a rectangular slot 43thru the sleeve sidewall. This slot is of a width and so located thatwith the side runner 34 attached thereto in a sled supporting position,slot bordering portion 44 of the sleeve engages the transverse memberI2; and when the runner 33 is in a fully retracted position slotbordering portion 45 engages such transverse member.

A bridge member or handle is arranged transverse the loop-formed byrunner 33 parallel to the nearby portion of member II and may be readilyseized and the sleeve turned to move the runner between its sledsupporting and retracted positions at will by a sled occupant.

As will be noted the auxiliary runners 33 and 34 are toed in, so tospeak, so that the load carried tends to hold them in sled supportingposition. Use of the ball locks prevents uncontrolled swinging movementsof the runners as might occasionally occur were they omitted; their mostimportant function, however, is in positively holding the runners intheir fully retracted position.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sled, a top bordering portion of circular cross section, atransverse member associated with said portion, a sleeve surrounding andturnable about said bordering portion and having surfaces engageablewith said member for limiting the amount of possible turning movementthereof, and a runner fixed to said sleeve occupying a sled-supportingposition when the sleeve is turned to one extreme position and occupyinga non-supporting position when turned in the reverse direction.

2. A structure such as dened by claim l wherein a spring actuated memberis arranged within the top bordering portion surrounded by said sleeveand cooperative with grooves in the inner surface of said sleeve to holdit in either of the extreme positions to which it is turned.

3. In a sled, a top including a tubular rail extending about the frontand sides thereof, sled bed supporting members Xed to the side portionsof said tubular rail, a sleeve surrounding and turnable about said railand having a slot therein occupied by one of said bed supportingmembers, and a sled runner attached to said sleeve movable into and outof sled supporting position by turning said sleeve.

4. A structure such as defined by claim 3 wherein means is providedtending to hold the runner in either extreme position to which it ismoved.

5. In a sled, a top bordering portion, a sleeve surrounding and turnableabout said bordering portion, a member lixed to said bordering portionengageable by said sleeve to limit the arc through which said sleevemai7 be turned, and a runner fixed to said sleeve occupying a sledsupporting position when said sleeve is turned to one extreme positionand occupying a non-supporting position when turned to the oppositeextreme position.

6. In a land vehicle, a top bordering portion, xed members associatedwith opposite sides of said portion, a turnable member associated witheach of said xed members, land-engaging elements one carried by each ofsaid turnable members and each independently positionable betweenvehicle supporting and non-supporting positions by imparting a movementto its said turnable member, and means independently cooperative Witheach of said members to hold its turnable member in the position intowhich it is moved.

7. In a land vehicle, top-bordering side rails, xed and movable membersassociated with each of said rails, a vehicle supporting elementindependently attached to each of said movable members and eachindependently movable between vehicle supporting and non-supportingpositions by movement of its said movable member, and means cooperativewith said movable and xed members to hold said movable members in thepositions to which they are moved.

8. In combination, a land vehicle having a loadsupporting bed,bed-supporting means arranged under said bed midway between the lateralborders thereof, and auxiliary vehicle bed-supporting means arranged oneither side of said rst specied bed-supporting means and each pivoted inthe vicinity of opposite lateral borders of the bed about axes parallelto a line drawn lengthwise of the bed and each turnable independently ofthe other into and out of bed-supporting positions.

FRANCIS J. DEDRICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,117,807 Diener et al Nov. 17,1914 1,289,519 Nelson et a1 Dec. 31, 1918 2,099,731 Gelbman Nov. 23,1937 2,188,080 Grimm Jan. 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date207,343 Germany Feb. 24, 1909 6.4,503 Austria Apr. 25, 1914

